Bambooware (竹器 Zhuqi)

China, home of bamboo, makes extensive use of the plant as a material for articles of daily use and interior decoration.

In many southern provinces like Hunan and Sichuan which abound in bamboo groves, the local people build houses, suspension bridges and fishing rafts with bamboo. In their spare time, rural women weave its strips into baskets of various sizes and different descriptions to be sold at fairs and markets.

No part of bamboo is wasted. The leaves make broadbrimmed country hats and rain capes, or are used for the roofing of small boats. Southern households, needless to say, use bamboo chopsticks for eating, many of which are burnt with patterns and picture.

Furniture made of the plant may look very distinctive, elegant and even classic in taste. Beds, couches, chairs, sofas, tables, desks and baby carriages can all be made of bamboo.

Bamboo can also be the material for a long list of other handicraft articles screens, paintings, animal figures, fruit boxes, smoking sets, tea boxes, etc. which are either interior decorations or articles of practical use or serve both purposes at the same time. Their exquisite appearance, together with their moderate price and light weight, puts them in high favour with Chinese and foreign buyers.

Some sculptors like to split sections of thick bamboo sticks lengthwise in two and engrave on the surfaces a couplet of Chinese poetry or a set of pictures for hanging on the walls of studies or studios. They make interior decorations of pastoral simplicity and refinement.

Bamboo is also an important raw material; the branches can be processed into fibres for the manufacture of high-quality paper and artificial silk.

The tender shoots of bamboo are a delicacy often found at a Chinese banquet. They may be used fresh or canned, or dried for longer storage. Dried bamboo shoots should be soaked in water for a few days before use.

A well-known Chinese drink called zhuyeqing (bamboo-leave-green) is made of bamboo leaves mixed with other materials.